Member Monday: Watts Water Technologies Keeps Fire Protection Systems Operational

Watts Water Technologies - Fire Protection Backflow Preventers NFSA staff had the pleasure of sitting down with Watts Water Technologies. Watts Water Technologies has been a Supplier and Manufacturer (SAM) member with the National Fire Sprinkler Association since 1989 and has been heavily involved with the NFSA since!

Finding Their Way to the Industry

Surprisingly, Watts Water Technologies did not start in fire protection, but rather as a plumbing company that manufactured pressure reducing valves (PRVs). In 1974 when Congress passed the Safe Water Drinking Act, it opened a new market for Watts Water Technologies. Watts acquired Ames Fire & Waterworks and added the company’s product line to their inventory.

Watts now manufactures and sells an impressive product line that plays a critical role in keeping fire protection systems operational. Watts offers a line of valves that maintain pressure in a system, as well as backflow preventers that protect water supplies. Watts Water Technologies also manufactures and sells in-building risers as well as custom engineered fire protection products.

Watts Water Technologies operates across the globe and is headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts with Ames’ factory located in the Sacramento, California, area, as well as factories in New Hampshire and the Carolinas.

The Watts Water Technologies Difference

Watts In Building RiserWatts staff explained that Watts has had a reputation as an innovator in backflow prevention and in-building risers since the 1980s. Staff shared that Watts Water Technologies was the first company to make its backflow preventers and risers out of stainless steel, which is important because not only is stainless steel lighter and easier to install and replace, but it is corrosion resistant and lasts a long time.

Watts Water Technologies and the NFSA: Partners in Progress

The Watts team shared that Watts Water Technologies has been heavily involved with the National Fire Sprinkler Association since the company joined in 1989. Rick Kelly sits on NFSA’s SAM Council, and Watts Water has exhibited numerous times at NFSA’s expos and conferences. Additionally, the entire Watts Water Technologies team has membership accounts with the NFSA and is a presence at NFSA’s chapter meetings. The Watts team shared that NFSA’s events are a great way to interact with customers and NFSA’s Learning and Development has been a great tool as well.

For more information on Watts Water Technologies visit their site here. For more information on their Ames fire protection product line, visit this page.